On Tuesday, The Centre for Financial Capability hosted a roundtable event in parliament on ‘The Future of Financial Literacy’, which discussed the delivery of financial education in primary schools. This event presented a unique opportunity for teachers and teacher union representatives to speak with prominent parliamentarians about the barriers they face in the delivery of financial education in schools, as well as to outline some potential solutions to these issues.

The Centre is very grateful to teachers Robina Durrani, (Assistant Head Teacher at Tonge Moor Primary Academy), Michelle Williams (Lead for Financial Education at Rossett Acre Primary School), Helen Kennedy (Director of PSHE at Northampton School for Boys) and Hayley Bissenden (ECT Lead at Cornwall Education Learning Trust and Economics Teacher at Newquay Tretherras) for sharing their valuable experiences of teaching financial education in schools, especially given the significant distances some of them covered in order to attend. The Centre also wishes to thank teacher union representatives Robert Young (General Secretary, NAPE) and Sonja Hall (Principal Official, NASUWT) for their attendance and excellent contributions.

Director Stewart Perry hosted the event in concert with Baroness Sater, Vice Chair of the APPG on Financial Education for Young People. We are very grateful to Baroness Sater for her efforts and her active parliamentary support. Also in attendance were Jerome Mayhew MP, Chair of the APPG on Financial Education for Young People, and Flick Drummond MP, who gave an update on the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into Financial Education, which will soon publish its findings. It was excellent to have these parliamentarians hear teachers’ concerns and offer their support for financial education’s inclusion on the primary curriculum.

The Centre also thoroughly appreciates the contributions of Charlotte Turner (Director of Bean Research) for the research presented at the roundtable, of Harvinder Rathore (Quilter Foundation Engagement Lead), for her organisation’s continued support of the Centre’s mission, and of Alice Clarke (Young Enterprise) for her invaluable assistance in bringing together the teachers and teacher unions to this roundtable.

This event represents a significant step in achieving the Centre’s mission, aiming for every child in the UK to have the opportunity to develop the skills and behaviours necessary to navigate critical financial decisions in life.